The female namek leaned back against a table leg and stared off over
Piccolo's head. Where to begin? Where should she start, and how could she
explain her slumber? Kihann wasn't even sure how long she'd been asleep,
how long she'd stayed hidden in the caves before she'd been discovered by
the humans, and then how long she'd remained in their hands before being
put into slumber again. Idly chewing on the dripping piece of fruit, she
tilted her head, eyes unfocused, she began;
"I'll start at the beginning as I remember it. I was maybe what would be fourteen or fifteen standard years old when our village had heard rumors of our planet dying. Our elder, and my father didn't believe them, they just thought they were the rumors of young men trying to stir up trouble just for the sake of attention and something to do; you know kind of like the Shepherd who cried wolf. You see, where we were at everything was fine, the trees were sparse yes, the ground a bit dusty, but other than that everything was healthy and whole. Especially the villagers, several couples had children, and all were growing up healthy and strong."
Kihann's eyes unfocused, her mind reaching out to Piccolo's she pulled him into her memories. Piccolo struggled against it, but the underlying emotion in Kihann's mind was one of reassurance. He allowed his mind to be swept away.
(A/N: just for the sake of my sanity and probably yours anything said on Namek is translated to common. I'd rather not have to make up an entire language)
"Look, respected elder, I'm telling you that the village just a few clicks off is falling ill! We have to take precautions! Three of their children have succumbed to whatever sickness is spreading! How long has it been since we've had to bury our children? Except for the few that have been killed by accident or by predators?!" The young namek's face was eager, if not a bit frightened looking. His fist pounded on the table a couple times in nervous anger. "I just had my child no more than a few weeks ago; I don't want to risk my daughters' life not knowing what could be killing us!"
The elder leaned back in his high-backed chair and regarded the young one with a bit of annoyance. "Tarum, I understand your concern, but what can we do? So far three children have died under mysterious circumstances, our healers could not figure out what they died from, and all of a sudden there's an imminent plague? We surely can't just pick up and leave the planet. Where would we go? And who's to say that whatever this is that you and a few others claim can't follow us?"
Tarum shook his head and slapped his palms on the table standing. "This planet is dying Elder Myuin!" Flinging out his arms he took in all those assembled. "We know this, yet we stay here, insistent that we can save our world from the atmospheric changes it's facing! Look out there Myuin; tell me that the storms that come more and more frequently are not preludes to a bigger disaster about to happen?" The young namek turned his attention to the other sitting next to the elder and motioned to him. "What about you Krin? What about your own daughter? Do you have any concerns for Kihann what so ever?"
The one, apparently Krin averted his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck with a cloth, the stifling heat of the room making it uncomfortable for everyone, not that the conversation hadn't done that already. "My daughter is my concern Tarum, and as you can see she's perfectly fine."
"Sure she's fine now, but what happens in five or six years? What happens when she's paired off with someone, they have a child only to have it become ill or worse yet, still born? As it is now, the head Elder Guru is talking of changes that will need to be made if anyone survives! It won't be long until she's taken by one of the others and off on her own." Tarum glanced over to the younger Namekkian woman, and then quickly glanced back to her father, knowing that Krin wasn't a man who was known for his patience.
The young Kihann watched and listened with all the interest that was typical of someone in their teenage years. She hadn't wanted to come to this boring meeting, of where old men babbled on endlessly about dying fields, violent storms, or worse yet, general every day menial tasks. Tasks she was all too familiar with and would much rather do without, let alone sit here and talk about them. She didn't mind doing her chores, it helped her mother out and if anything gave her something to do while she waited for a few friends to show up so they could sneak off and explore whatever they'd happened to find, or just to have an excuse to get away from her younger siblings who seemed to think that she held all the answers in the universe, or had been deemed village entertainer.
But here she was having been dragged along by her father to this meeting from other villages to sit and listen to various people talk about things she'd rather not think about. She wondered if she should have backed Tarum up, he was after all a friend of hers and before he'd been paired off with some one else, they had been somewhat close, probably closer than what her father would have tolerated. But, she didn't want to be put in the spotlight, as it was her being forced to go with her father was punishment for sneaking off with a couple other friends and camping out in one of the old beast caves. That had earned her a nice boxing around the head and shoulders, not to mention extra chores for the week. She sighed softly, plunking her chin into the cup of her hand, propping her elbow up on the table, trying for the entire world to get the point across to anyone watching that she was bored.
Meanwhile, the older Kihann and Piccolo stood off to the side, out of the way and obviously invisible to the long gone council. Piccolo smirked and shook his head faintly at the entire meeting.
The older Kihann murmured softly. "This was a key meeting; I recall that. I remember father being furious that a youngling like Tarum dared try to usurp the village elders rulings and he felt that the younger ones were calling the elders liars not only behind their backs but to their faces as well. Everyone knew that this world was dying, and that there was little to nothing they could do about it. But the elders were adamant about trying to save our home world."
Piccolo nodded and continued to listen. To him it was both old and new information; he knew that Namek had been a lush green planet, until the atmosphere changed, nearly leaving it a desert, and leaving only one lone Namekkian to carry on. "Well if it makes you feel better you're friend had the right idea."
Kihann shrugged her slender shoulders, watching her younger self trying to squirm and sneak out of the meeting. "Perhaps, or perhaps it was evolution trying to tell us something. But we didn't see it."
The meeting droned on, until finally Krin, sick of the entire thing stormed out of the meeting saying that if the world was going to die, it damn well better hurry up and do it, he was sick of hearing children trying to tell elders who were wiser in the ways of things what to do. The younger Kihann trailed after her father like the obedient child she was supposed to be.
The vision faded to grayness and it left only Kihann and Piccolo standing in the middle of nothing. He stared off into the nothingness for a moment before speaking. "What happened after that?"
Kihann looked up at the other namek and smiled faintly. "More children died, then elderly, and then seemingly healthy adults, my family died with them, first my little sister, then my brother, then my older brother. Come, watch."
Piccolo's mind was tugged at again, and this time he followed along more complacently. The grayness filled in, first with walls and furnishings, faded like seen through a fog. Then finally becoming more solid as the memory in Kihann's mind became clearer, until the entire house was viewable; Piccolo could see that it was just like the other houses he saw on namek, rounded, somewhat squat to the ground, rounded windows that let in little daylight in, forcing the inhabitants to either use other means of light, or to just sit in dimness.
The house reeked of sickness, despite the fact that it was a memory, Piccolo and Kihann could still smell deaths scent in the stifling air of the room. Piccolo's hand unconsciously went up to cover his nose, trying to place a barrier between the stench and his nose. He watched as Kihann went through what looked like a living room, and into a small hallway, and then turning into a room she came to a halt, Piccolo having no choice but to follow.
In the bed he saw a young Namekkian child laid out on the bed, naked and sweating enough to soak the sheets. Here the smell was ten times worse and it was almost enough to make Piccolo turn and leave. Kihann placed a hand on his arm and shook her head.
Another female namek sat by the bed, tirelessly bathing the child's fevered body with a towel dipped in cold water. She looked exhausted, and possibly ill herself, but she refused to rest. The younger Kihann stepped out of a side room and to her mother, gently shaking the woman's shoulder.
"Mother, please go eat and get something to drink. You've been up with Nia all night without sleep or any nourishment of any sort. Go, I'll take care of Nia for the afternoon." The young Kihann tugged on her mothers arm.
Kihann's mother looked up at her daughter with glazed eyes, and allowed them to focus slowly. "I can't, Nia needs me Kihann. Why aren't you at your lessons?"
"Mother, you know that the teacher died a week ago, and that lessons have been cancelled for several weeks now due to all this." Kihann's eyes widened with concern, she noted the slight sheen of sweat, and the faint smell of sickness coming from her mother. Shoving aside the needle of fear that stabbed mercilessly at her heart, she tugged on her mothers arm again, this time successful in getting her to stand. "Come, lay down. I'll take care of Nia, and see that everything is taken care of; I'll go find something for you and Nia to eat."
Her mother nodded wearily, exiting the room; she could be heard talking to no one, and Kihann knew deep down that she was losing her family one member at a time; her father was out now in the fields burying her other siblings. The fields that were once used to grow trees, were now being used to bury the scores of dead, most only marked by simple names and dates they lived and died. Funeral rites skimmed over just cursory blessings and well wishes to the deceased's soul, as to where under normal circumstances a funeral could have lasted days, depending on the status of the person who died.
Kihann sat headed to the cold cellar and retrieved a jug of water and a few star fruits that remained from the family stores. Cutting them up and dividing the water, she headed first to her sisters room, setting the tray down and taking a moment to bathe her little sister in cold water; then going to retrieve the second tray for her mother, she headed to her parents' room. Knocking politely, she received no answer. Frowning a bit, she pushed open the door to find her mothers body half in bed, half on the floor, dropping the tray she ran to her mothers' side, shaking her gently. "Mother, mother I need you to-"
Kihann screamed as her mother rolled limply in her hand falling onto the floor and hitting her head against the bed foot. Her mother face frozen in a demonic grin of pain, stared up at her with deaths eyes.
Piccolo glanced at the older Kihann, and felt a wave of pity for her. He'd seen friends die, but that could never compare to what this girl had gone through. Her entire family dying before her very eyes; doing something he'd never thought he'd catch himself doing, he reached out to place an arm over her shoulder and move her closer to him.
She accepted the contact gratefully, her eyes full of unshed tears. The room dimmed back to the grayness of nothing as she lost control of the memory and broke down crying, she buried her head in Piccolos chest. Piccolo could feel them both being tugged back to the real world, and wasn't too surprised to see when they had resumed their grasp on reality that he really was holding her in his lap.
He didn't know what to say, so he held her while she cried renewed tears of grief, and then take a few more moments to try and regain some composure. It was quite a few moments, and Piccolo bore it all in silence. In all actuality, he was uncomfortable and completely unprepared for this. What was he supposed to do? None of the other fighters had ever cried, and certainly Bulma or Chichi had never come crying to him! He sighed faintly and did his best to comfort her.
As she rested her head in his lap, he gently stroked her head and arm, trying to be soothing, as he worked on calming her, he thought of another problem; Namek was destroyed, the original planet had been long gone, and everyone she would have known and loved would have been dead. Not even the Nameks from her time existed anymore, Guru had been the last, and he'd been dead for over a decade or two now. She was literally the only known female of his species alive, hell; she was the ONLY gendered species of their kind. Everyone else had been created asexual, since it had been up to Guru to keep their race alive, since he'd been the very last survivor of Namek.
How was he going to explain this? In due time, he thought to himself. In time she'll have to learn what exactly happened, and that she's even more different and isolated than ever. But for now she has to grieve and all I can do is be here for her. This actually isn't so bad, he considered silently; it's not too bad at all, not as awkward as I thought it would be. But then again a lot has happened over the past few days that would change ones perspective on things a bit.
"I'm sorry." Kihann's light voice cracked softly as she apologized. "I don't know what came over me."
Piccolo shrugged his shoulders slightly. "You've been through something pretty traumatic, Kihann. You're stuck in a world that's unfamiliar, and hasn't been particularly kind to you, and I'm sure that reliving your past hasn't helped much either. But I have to say thank you."
Kihann blinked as she sat up and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Thank you? What would you thank me for?"
Piccolo smiled faintly and turned his gaze out of the window. "I never knew Nameks history, not really, and I'd always been curious as to what happened on the planet."
"Can I ask something? Probably something I'll regret?"
"Sure, I'll answer it if I can, can't guarantee it will be what you want to hear."
Kihann rested her head back in Piccolo's lap. She found she liked the comforting feeling, that feeling that at least something familiar was there, even if she didn't know Piccolo that well, he was at least similar enough for her to relate to and she noticed with distant wonder that he seemed to accept her for who she was, and for her need to be close to something. "Are we the only Nameks left? Is it just you, me and Dende?"
Piccolo chuckled faintly; he had expected the question, and the way she posed it had made it easier for him to answer. For the next few hours he explained everything about what had happened on Namek, with Vegeta, Goku, and Frieza, and his fusion with Nail. He had to explain of course some details such as who they were, and just how everyone got there; but in the end she'd been pleased to know that they had found a new planet to live on, a healthy one and that although she didn't know any of them, she at least felt better knowing that they had survived. "I guess it's better than I had expected Piccolo. I half expected to hear you say that no one was left, and we three were the only survivors."
"No, we're not. Although I don't think you'd be impressed with how Namek is now."
Kihann nodded a bit, her eyes closing as the after crying jag sleepiness crept up on her. "I think I understand. Dende had explained there was no such thing as males or females on Namek anymore."
Piccolo frowned and glanced down at the woman. "So you knew already?"
"Yeah, I did a little. Dende wasn't very talkative about it, he said that I should ask you about all that happened, but he did explain a few things to me, and although its kind of hard to accept, at least I know its not permanent."
Piccolo blinked a few times completely confused. What wasn't permanent? And why had she bothered asking him these things in the first place if Dende had already explained some of it? He asked her both questions.
"I wanted to hear it from you." She stated simply, "And because he also told me about that you and the former guardian of this planet were once the same person in a sense."
"Hnnn, kids got a big mouth." Piccolo snorted softly, but he figured she was bound to find out just about everything about him. "I guess you would have eventually found out anyways, did he tell you the history behind that?"
Kihann nodded, and the other namek was relieved that he wouldn't have to regale the whole tale to her, he was deeply uncomfortable with his past, and everyone who knew him knew that Kami and himself didn't get along. Nor was he comfortable with the fact about his 'fathers' past.
"I guess the question now comes down to, now what?" Kihann spoke softly. "I can't go home, it isn't like anything I used to know, everyone I knew is dead or too old to have remembered me. I obviously can't go and find someone to pair up with, have children and live my life as I was meant to. Dende told me how everyone on Namek was, well, genderless." Kihann glanced over at Piccolo and quickly looked away.
Piccolo's brow ridges rose at the look. "Well, I can't do much to help you in that aspect Kihann." He added as an afterthought, "Nor am I sure I could if I wanted to."
Kihann smirked faintly sensing the older Nameks discomfort. "Pairing, sex and such used to be such an open topic. All I can say is I pity them now, not knowing what they're missing out on."
"Okay, okay, okay. I do not want to hear anymore." Piccolo grimaced and held up his hands.
Kihann grinned maliciously as she sat up and faced a flushed Piccolo. "You know you could change yourself to have a gender. I mean, you are from the planet Namek originally and you weren't one of Guru's offspring, not technically anyways. Oh, it'd probably take a few years for you to change your physiology, and being genderless wasn't too uncommon in my time; several of the others opted to be genderless rather than pairing up with someone they hated, or couldn't find someone suitable at the time."
"OKAY! ENOUGH!" Piccolo's face was a deep shade, and he fidgeted uncomfortably.
Kihann fell over laughing, holding her sides as peals of laughter echoed through the library; loud enough for Dende to poke his head in and give Piccolo a curious look. Piccolo just shook his head and gave the indication that he didn't want to talk about it. This was fine with Dende, who had happened to overhear half the conversation anyways, closing the door, Dende walked down the hallway laughing to him self.
"You did that on purpose." Piccolo growled accusingly.
"Of course I did! You should have seen the look on your face as I was describing everything to you; it was a cross between morbid fascination and out right embarrassment!" Kihann sat up, wiping tears from her eyes, this time the tears were from laughing.
"Isn't it past your bed time or something?" Piccolo stood stiffly, and headed for the exit. "Shouldn't you find something to do at least?"
Kihann grinned more widely as she stood and followed Piccolo out the door and down the hallway. "Well, now that you do mention it, I probably could use a bath. Care to scrub my back?"
Piccolo snorted and retorted with, "Not a snowballs chance in hell kid."
Kihann giggled and skipped off to her rooms, pleased with herself.
"I'll start at the beginning as I remember it. I was maybe what would be fourteen or fifteen standard years old when our village had heard rumors of our planet dying. Our elder, and my father didn't believe them, they just thought they were the rumors of young men trying to stir up trouble just for the sake of attention and something to do; you know kind of like the Shepherd who cried wolf. You see, where we were at everything was fine, the trees were sparse yes, the ground a bit dusty, but other than that everything was healthy and whole. Especially the villagers, several couples had children, and all were growing up healthy and strong."
Kihann's eyes unfocused, her mind reaching out to Piccolo's she pulled him into her memories. Piccolo struggled against it, but the underlying emotion in Kihann's mind was one of reassurance. He allowed his mind to be swept away.
(A/N: just for the sake of my sanity and probably yours anything said on Namek is translated to common. I'd rather not have to make up an entire language)
"Look, respected elder, I'm telling you that the village just a few clicks off is falling ill! We have to take precautions! Three of their children have succumbed to whatever sickness is spreading! How long has it been since we've had to bury our children? Except for the few that have been killed by accident or by predators?!" The young namek's face was eager, if not a bit frightened looking. His fist pounded on the table a couple times in nervous anger. "I just had my child no more than a few weeks ago; I don't want to risk my daughters' life not knowing what could be killing us!"
The elder leaned back in his high-backed chair and regarded the young one with a bit of annoyance. "Tarum, I understand your concern, but what can we do? So far three children have died under mysterious circumstances, our healers could not figure out what they died from, and all of a sudden there's an imminent plague? We surely can't just pick up and leave the planet. Where would we go? And who's to say that whatever this is that you and a few others claim can't follow us?"
Tarum shook his head and slapped his palms on the table standing. "This planet is dying Elder Myuin!" Flinging out his arms he took in all those assembled. "We know this, yet we stay here, insistent that we can save our world from the atmospheric changes it's facing! Look out there Myuin; tell me that the storms that come more and more frequently are not preludes to a bigger disaster about to happen?" The young namek turned his attention to the other sitting next to the elder and motioned to him. "What about you Krin? What about your own daughter? Do you have any concerns for Kihann what so ever?"
The one, apparently Krin averted his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck with a cloth, the stifling heat of the room making it uncomfortable for everyone, not that the conversation hadn't done that already. "My daughter is my concern Tarum, and as you can see she's perfectly fine."
"Sure she's fine now, but what happens in five or six years? What happens when she's paired off with someone, they have a child only to have it become ill or worse yet, still born? As it is now, the head Elder Guru is talking of changes that will need to be made if anyone survives! It won't be long until she's taken by one of the others and off on her own." Tarum glanced over to the younger Namekkian woman, and then quickly glanced back to her father, knowing that Krin wasn't a man who was known for his patience.
The young Kihann watched and listened with all the interest that was typical of someone in their teenage years. She hadn't wanted to come to this boring meeting, of where old men babbled on endlessly about dying fields, violent storms, or worse yet, general every day menial tasks. Tasks she was all too familiar with and would much rather do without, let alone sit here and talk about them. She didn't mind doing her chores, it helped her mother out and if anything gave her something to do while she waited for a few friends to show up so they could sneak off and explore whatever they'd happened to find, or just to have an excuse to get away from her younger siblings who seemed to think that she held all the answers in the universe, or had been deemed village entertainer.
But here she was having been dragged along by her father to this meeting from other villages to sit and listen to various people talk about things she'd rather not think about. She wondered if she should have backed Tarum up, he was after all a friend of hers and before he'd been paired off with some one else, they had been somewhat close, probably closer than what her father would have tolerated. But, she didn't want to be put in the spotlight, as it was her being forced to go with her father was punishment for sneaking off with a couple other friends and camping out in one of the old beast caves. That had earned her a nice boxing around the head and shoulders, not to mention extra chores for the week. She sighed softly, plunking her chin into the cup of her hand, propping her elbow up on the table, trying for the entire world to get the point across to anyone watching that she was bored.
Meanwhile, the older Kihann and Piccolo stood off to the side, out of the way and obviously invisible to the long gone council. Piccolo smirked and shook his head faintly at the entire meeting.
The older Kihann murmured softly. "This was a key meeting; I recall that. I remember father being furious that a youngling like Tarum dared try to usurp the village elders rulings and he felt that the younger ones were calling the elders liars not only behind their backs but to their faces as well. Everyone knew that this world was dying, and that there was little to nothing they could do about it. But the elders were adamant about trying to save our home world."
Piccolo nodded and continued to listen. To him it was both old and new information; he knew that Namek had been a lush green planet, until the atmosphere changed, nearly leaving it a desert, and leaving only one lone Namekkian to carry on. "Well if it makes you feel better you're friend had the right idea."
Kihann shrugged her slender shoulders, watching her younger self trying to squirm and sneak out of the meeting. "Perhaps, or perhaps it was evolution trying to tell us something. But we didn't see it."
The meeting droned on, until finally Krin, sick of the entire thing stormed out of the meeting saying that if the world was going to die, it damn well better hurry up and do it, he was sick of hearing children trying to tell elders who were wiser in the ways of things what to do. The younger Kihann trailed after her father like the obedient child she was supposed to be.
The vision faded to grayness and it left only Kihann and Piccolo standing in the middle of nothing. He stared off into the nothingness for a moment before speaking. "What happened after that?"
Kihann looked up at the other namek and smiled faintly. "More children died, then elderly, and then seemingly healthy adults, my family died with them, first my little sister, then my brother, then my older brother. Come, watch."
Piccolo's mind was tugged at again, and this time he followed along more complacently. The grayness filled in, first with walls and furnishings, faded like seen through a fog. Then finally becoming more solid as the memory in Kihann's mind became clearer, until the entire house was viewable; Piccolo could see that it was just like the other houses he saw on namek, rounded, somewhat squat to the ground, rounded windows that let in little daylight in, forcing the inhabitants to either use other means of light, or to just sit in dimness.
The house reeked of sickness, despite the fact that it was a memory, Piccolo and Kihann could still smell deaths scent in the stifling air of the room. Piccolo's hand unconsciously went up to cover his nose, trying to place a barrier between the stench and his nose. He watched as Kihann went through what looked like a living room, and into a small hallway, and then turning into a room she came to a halt, Piccolo having no choice but to follow.
In the bed he saw a young Namekkian child laid out on the bed, naked and sweating enough to soak the sheets. Here the smell was ten times worse and it was almost enough to make Piccolo turn and leave. Kihann placed a hand on his arm and shook her head.
Another female namek sat by the bed, tirelessly bathing the child's fevered body with a towel dipped in cold water. She looked exhausted, and possibly ill herself, but she refused to rest. The younger Kihann stepped out of a side room and to her mother, gently shaking the woman's shoulder.
"Mother, please go eat and get something to drink. You've been up with Nia all night without sleep or any nourishment of any sort. Go, I'll take care of Nia for the afternoon." The young Kihann tugged on her mothers arm.
Kihann's mother looked up at her daughter with glazed eyes, and allowed them to focus slowly. "I can't, Nia needs me Kihann. Why aren't you at your lessons?"
"Mother, you know that the teacher died a week ago, and that lessons have been cancelled for several weeks now due to all this." Kihann's eyes widened with concern, she noted the slight sheen of sweat, and the faint smell of sickness coming from her mother. Shoving aside the needle of fear that stabbed mercilessly at her heart, she tugged on her mothers arm again, this time successful in getting her to stand. "Come, lay down. I'll take care of Nia, and see that everything is taken care of; I'll go find something for you and Nia to eat."
Her mother nodded wearily, exiting the room; she could be heard talking to no one, and Kihann knew deep down that she was losing her family one member at a time; her father was out now in the fields burying her other siblings. The fields that were once used to grow trees, were now being used to bury the scores of dead, most only marked by simple names and dates they lived and died. Funeral rites skimmed over just cursory blessings and well wishes to the deceased's soul, as to where under normal circumstances a funeral could have lasted days, depending on the status of the person who died.
Kihann sat headed to the cold cellar and retrieved a jug of water and a few star fruits that remained from the family stores. Cutting them up and dividing the water, she headed first to her sisters room, setting the tray down and taking a moment to bathe her little sister in cold water; then going to retrieve the second tray for her mother, she headed to her parents' room. Knocking politely, she received no answer. Frowning a bit, she pushed open the door to find her mothers body half in bed, half on the floor, dropping the tray she ran to her mothers' side, shaking her gently. "Mother, mother I need you to-"
Kihann screamed as her mother rolled limply in her hand falling onto the floor and hitting her head against the bed foot. Her mother face frozen in a demonic grin of pain, stared up at her with deaths eyes.
Piccolo glanced at the older Kihann, and felt a wave of pity for her. He'd seen friends die, but that could never compare to what this girl had gone through. Her entire family dying before her very eyes; doing something he'd never thought he'd catch himself doing, he reached out to place an arm over her shoulder and move her closer to him.
She accepted the contact gratefully, her eyes full of unshed tears. The room dimmed back to the grayness of nothing as she lost control of the memory and broke down crying, she buried her head in Piccolos chest. Piccolo could feel them both being tugged back to the real world, and wasn't too surprised to see when they had resumed their grasp on reality that he really was holding her in his lap.
He didn't know what to say, so he held her while she cried renewed tears of grief, and then take a few more moments to try and regain some composure. It was quite a few moments, and Piccolo bore it all in silence. In all actuality, he was uncomfortable and completely unprepared for this. What was he supposed to do? None of the other fighters had ever cried, and certainly Bulma or Chichi had never come crying to him! He sighed faintly and did his best to comfort her.
As she rested her head in his lap, he gently stroked her head and arm, trying to be soothing, as he worked on calming her, he thought of another problem; Namek was destroyed, the original planet had been long gone, and everyone she would have known and loved would have been dead. Not even the Nameks from her time existed anymore, Guru had been the last, and he'd been dead for over a decade or two now. She was literally the only known female of his species alive, hell; she was the ONLY gendered species of their kind. Everyone else had been created asexual, since it had been up to Guru to keep their race alive, since he'd been the very last survivor of Namek.
How was he going to explain this? In due time, he thought to himself. In time she'll have to learn what exactly happened, and that she's even more different and isolated than ever. But for now she has to grieve and all I can do is be here for her. This actually isn't so bad, he considered silently; it's not too bad at all, not as awkward as I thought it would be. But then again a lot has happened over the past few days that would change ones perspective on things a bit.
"I'm sorry." Kihann's light voice cracked softly as she apologized. "I don't know what came over me."
Piccolo shrugged his shoulders slightly. "You've been through something pretty traumatic, Kihann. You're stuck in a world that's unfamiliar, and hasn't been particularly kind to you, and I'm sure that reliving your past hasn't helped much either. But I have to say thank you."
Kihann blinked as she sat up and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Thank you? What would you thank me for?"
Piccolo smiled faintly and turned his gaze out of the window. "I never knew Nameks history, not really, and I'd always been curious as to what happened on the planet."
"Can I ask something? Probably something I'll regret?"
"Sure, I'll answer it if I can, can't guarantee it will be what you want to hear."
Kihann rested her head back in Piccolo's lap. She found she liked the comforting feeling, that feeling that at least something familiar was there, even if she didn't know Piccolo that well, he was at least similar enough for her to relate to and she noticed with distant wonder that he seemed to accept her for who she was, and for her need to be close to something. "Are we the only Nameks left? Is it just you, me and Dende?"
Piccolo chuckled faintly; he had expected the question, and the way she posed it had made it easier for him to answer. For the next few hours he explained everything about what had happened on Namek, with Vegeta, Goku, and Frieza, and his fusion with Nail. He had to explain of course some details such as who they were, and just how everyone got there; but in the end she'd been pleased to know that they had found a new planet to live on, a healthy one and that although she didn't know any of them, she at least felt better knowing that they had survived. "I guess it's better than I had expected Piccolo. I half expected to hear you say that no one was left, and we three were the only survivors."
"No, we're not. Although I don't think you'd be impressed with how Namek is now."
Kihann nodded a bit, her eyes closing as the after crying jag sleepiness crept up on her. "I think I understand. Dende had explained there was no such thing as males or females on Namek anymore."
Piccolo frowned and glanced down at the woman. "So you knew already?"
"Yeah, I did a little. Dende wasn't very talkative about it, he said that I should ask you about all that happened, but he did explain a few things to me, and although its kind of hard to accept, at least I know its not permanent."
Piccolo blinked a few times completely confused. What wasn't permanent? And why had she bothered asking him these things in the first place if Dende had already explained some of it? He asked her both questions.
"I wanted to hear it from you." She stated simply, "And because he also told me about that you and the former guardian of this planet were once the same person in a sense."
"Hnnn, kids got a big mouth." Piccolo snorted softly, but he figured she was bound to find out just about everything about him. "I guess you would have eventually found out anyways, did he tell you the history behind that?"
Kihann nodded, and the other namek was relieved that he wouldn't have to regale the whole tale to her, he was deeply uncomfortable with his past, and everyone who knew him knew that Kami and himself didn't get along. Nor was he comfortable with the fact about his 'fathers' past.
"I guess the question now comes down to, now what?" Kihann spoke softly. "I can't go home, it isn't like anything I used to know, everyone I knew is dead or too old to have remembered me. I obviously can't go and find someone to pair up with, have children and live my life as I was meant to. Dende told me how everyone on Namek was, well, genderless." Kihann glanced over at Piccolo and quickly looked away.
Piccolo's brow ridges rose at the look. "Well, I can't do much to help you in that aspect Kihann." He added as an afterthought, "Nor am I sure I could if I wanted to."
Kihann smirked faintly sensing the older Nameks discomfort. "Pairing, sex and such used to be such an open topic. All I can say is I pity them now, not knowing what they're missing out on."
"Okay, okay, okay. I do not want to hear anymore." Piccolo grimaced and held up his hands.
Kihann grinned maliciously as she sat up and faced a flushed Piccolo. "You know you could change yourself to have a gender. I mean, you are from the planet Namek originally and you weren't one of Guru's offspring, not technically anyways. Oh, it'd probably take a few years for you to change your physiology, and being genderless wasn't too uncommon in my time; several of the others opted to be genderless rather than pairing up with someone they hated, or couldn't find someone suitable at the time."
"OKAY! ENOUGH!" Piccolo's face was a deep shade, and he fidgeted uncomfortably.
Kihann fell over laughing, holding her sides as peals of laughter echoed through the library; loud enough for Dende to poke his head in and give Piccolo a curious look. Piccolo just shook his head and gave the indication that he didn't want to talk about it. This was fine with Dende, who had happened to overhear half the conversation anyways, closing the door, Dende walked down the hallway laughing to him self.
"You did that on purpose." Piccolo growled accusingly.
"Of course I did! You should have seen the look on your face as I was describing everything to you; it was a cross between morbid fascination and out right embarrassment!" Kihann sat up, wiping tears from her eyes, this time the tears were from laughing.
"Isn't it past your bed time or something?" Piccolo stood stiffly, and headed for the exit. "Shouldn't you find something to do at least?"
Kihann grinned more widely as she stood and followed Piccolo out the door and down the hallway. "Well, now that you do mention it, I probably could use a bath. Care to scrub my back?"
Piccolo snorted and retorted with, "Not a snowballs chance in hell kid."
Kihann giggled and skipped off to her rooms, pleased with herself.